Floor-covering



J. S. MILLER, JR.

FLOOR COVERING. APPLICATION FILED IuLY I0, I9I9.

TTORNEYS.

unirse STA-iras PATENT oFFlcE.

JOHN STB/OTHER MILLER, JR., 0F RAI-IWAY, NEW JERSEY, -ASSIGNOR T0 THE BARBER ASPHALT PAVING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORA- TION OP WEST VIRGINIA.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN STROTHER MIL- LER, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Rahway, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Floor- Coverings, whereof the following is a specification.

My invention relates to floor covering and the like of the oilcloth or linoleum type, and especially to the base or fabric which oarries the overlay material or composition that forms the wearing surface, and to the relation of the overlay to the base. It is my aim to improve the quality of the product, and especially to prevent the occurrence of certain annoying defects which sometimes mar its appearance and impair its salable value. The view shown in the drawings is a section of the product claimed.

rlfhe type of sheet material to which I refer is very commonly composed of a base layer of rag felt saturated or impregnated with liquid pitch, such as natural asphalt (suitably purified and fluxed, if necessary) or coal tar pitch. The overlay comprises, generally speaking, an application or coat of primer containing` pigment, a coat of ground color of paint or of linoleum composition, and a design in suitably colored linoleum composition or paint printed upon the ground color. In the case of so-called inlaid7 linoleum, the ground color and the imprinted design are replaced by an inlaid linoleum mixture.

The base layer of felt is saturated or impregnated to such a degree as to be black throughout. Owing tohigh, hard spots in the surface of the raw felt due to incomplete disintegration of the felt material, the saturated or impregnated felt isliable to present bright spots, such as are called high hats. Other bright spots may be produced by excessive saturation,-espeeially in places where low places in the raw felt allows the formation of a surface coat or deposit of the impregnating material. Bright spots of either sort tend to give rise to imperfections when the primer coat is applied, because the knife edge, under which the primer is usually applied, scrapes'it oli` at such places. The result is that the pitchy saturation is permitted to come in direct contact with the ground color when the latter is subsequently applied, with the result that the saturation FLOOR-COVERING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pattemtd NOV.. 3Q), IQZ.

Application mea July 1o, 1919. serial no. 309,896.

generally strikes through the ground color and produces discoloration in the visible surface of the finished sheet linoleum.

In accordance with my invention, I overcome these diiiculties by plying to the saturated or impregnated felt layer an unsaturated surface layer of fabric, such as cloth or other textile fabric, or paper,-prefere ably a sheet yof kraft paper,-so that the base of the linoleum sheet is no longer made up of the felt layer alone, but'of the felt and fabric fastened or plied together. rlhe paper may, if preferred, be sized so as to be non-absorbent. rIhe fabric may be thus plied to the saturated felt by means of asphalt or other pitch more or less similar to that with which the felt is saturated,-em ployed by way of a cement or adhesive. To illustrate, one method of procedure is to pass rag felt such as is familiar to all versed in the art through a saturating bath of hot bituminous material, squeeze out the excess, coat one face with a hot, molten, bituminous substance as the adhesive, and immediately apply the paper or textile fabric to the coated face. rIhe product is then 'cooled and either rolled up or can, after cooling, pass directly to the linoleum machines, where the oil overlay (whether paint or true linoleum composition) is applied. y

Ordinarily speaking, it will be unnecessary-and, especialy in the case of paper, even undesirable-to apply the fabric to both sides of the felt layer, since both the stock during manufacture and the sheet linoleum when finished are commonly handled, stowed, and shipped in rolls, and since if plied paper and felt be rolled with the paper on the inside, there willmbe serious buckling ofQthe paper when the stock or the finished linoleum' is subsequently laid out flat again. Since, however, the fabric is primarlly .intended merely to form the overlay-receiving surface of the base, and since linoleum is customarily rolled with the overlay side out, a base plied with paper on just one side offers no practical disadvantages or diiiculties unless it be rolled too small,-as on a core of kless than aboutsix inches diameter.

The `use of the composite base which 1 have just described not only offers theJ ad-` vantage that bright or rough spots 1n the lsaturated felt no longer give rise to defects such as described above, but involves distinctand positive advantages. In the rst place, the black color of the saturated felt is objectionable, and with the old type of base it was, therefore, necessary to employ a primer containing pigment, in order that the black might be completelymasked. With my base, however, it is possible, by suitable selection of the color of the fabric used, to

employ a better and less expensive transparent primer (e. g., shellac), and even, in some cases, to dispense with the ground color coat though in some cases it may be dispensed with entirely, if the design is such as to cover the paper completely.

The reverse side of the linoleum sheet may either be left unfinished, or may be finished with a coat of paint or in any other usual or preferred way. lt is advantageous to ply to the reverse side of the base a backing of such textile fabric as ute or paper burlap (also by means of asphalt or other pitch as a cement) to aHord, greater strength: this is, of course, done about the same time the paper facing is applied, and before the reverse side is paintedor otherwise finished. This backing strengthens and protects the base; it may be of Widely varying mesh and thicknessof thread.

The fabric (especially kraft paper),`

mme@ Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A iieXible, Waterproof covering of the character hereinbefore described, consisting essentially of a Waterproofed rag felt base, an unsaturated fabric fastened to one face thereof, and an overlay Wearing surface upon said fabric.

2. A flexible, Waterproof floor covering having a'saturated, Waterproofed felt base, an unsaturated fabric plied to one face thereof, a priming or ground colorlcoat applied on the face of the fabric, and an oil overlay wearing surface thereon.

. 3. A floor covering comprising a layer of felt saturated or impregnated with pitch, a layer of unsaturated fabric plied upon one face of said felt layer, and an overlay Wearing surface upon said fabric layer.

4. A base for sheet material of the oil cloth or linoleum type comprising a layer of rag felt saturated or impregnated withk pitch, and a layer of unsaturated paper plied upon one face of said felt layer by a coating of bituminous cement and forming the overlay-receiving side of the base.

5. A base for sheet material of the oil cloth or linoleum type comprising a layer of felt saturated or impregnated with pitch, and a layer of unsaturated kraft paper plied to said layer with pitch and forming the overlay-receiving side of the base.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Maurer, New Jersey, this 1stday of July, 1919.

JOHN sTRoTHER MILLER,` JR.

lVitnesses CHARLES FonREsT, ANDREW L. BELL. 

